Ward finishes fourth in Heisman voting, commits to UM bowl. And more portal visits

Quarterback Cam Ward’s exemplary season, the best statistically in Miami Hurricanes football history, will not end with a Heisman Trophy.

As expected, Colorado receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter won the most prestigious award in college athletics in a ceremony at the Lincoln Center in New York City on Saturday night, beating out Ward and two other finalists.

Ward finished fourth, behind Hunter, Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty and Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel.

Ward -- who was accompanied by his parents Patrice and Calvin and Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal, among others -- received six first place votes, 24 second place votes and 163 third place votes.

Ward’s 229 total points in voting were behind Hunter’s 2231, Jeanty’s 2017 and Gabriel’s 516. Hunter received 552 first-place votes, topping Jeanty’s 309. Gabriel had 24 first-place votes.

The Canes have not seen the last of Ward. In an appearance on ESPN earlier in the day, Ward reiterated that he will play in the Dec. 28 Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando against Iowa State (3:30 p.m., ABC).

“I’m playing in the game,” he said. “We’ve been preparing this whole week. Every day, we’re getting more into the game plan against Iowa State. They’re a 10-win team. It’s exciting to go out in your college career and try to win your last game.”

Ward, who transferred to Miami 11 months ago after spending his first two college football seasons at FCS level Incarnate Word and then two more at Washington State, had a record-setting year with the Hurricanes. He established single season school marks for passing yards (4,123) and touchdowns (36).

His 4123 passing yards are second in the country, behind Syracuse’s Kyle McCord (4326).

His 36 TD passes lead the nation.

And his 67.4 completion percentage -- which is 21st in the country -- stands to be the highest for a Canes quarterback in a single season or a career. Tyler Van Dyke holds both of those marks: 63.7 percent for his career, 65.8 percent in the 2023 season.

Ward has thrown for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns in 10 of Miami’s 12 games, becoming the first Hurricane ever to produce seven consecutive 300-yard games.

Ward is tied with Houston’s Case Keenum for the most career passing touchdowns (155) at the NCAA Division I level, a record he can claim for his own if he throws a touchdown pass in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

“He’s the ultimate competitor, the ultimate teammate and he’s an elite human being,” Cristobal said from Lincoln Center on ESPN’s Heisman special. “Through his leadership and hard work, he has elevated the program and everybody around him to national prominence. He had had a positive impact on everyone that has come across him. He’s the best player I’ve ever been around and the best quarterback in the country.”

Ward garnered two prestigious awards in recent days: The Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year Award and the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award, the nation’s oldest QB trophy. UM greats Vinny Testaverde (1986) and Gino Torretta (1992) also won the Davey O’Brien.

Ward was the the eighth different Hurricane to be named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy and the first since Ken Dorsey and Willis McGahee in 2002. In the Heisman’s 20-year history, Miami Hurricanes players have won it twice -- Testaverde in 1986 and Torretta in 1992.

Ward fell short in his bid to become the third Cane to win the award, though he made a compelling case in leading UM to a 10-2 record.

“We want to talk about Heisman moments, I certainly have the most,” Ward said hours before the ceremony on Saturday. “All you got to do is watch the tape.”

Former LSU QB Jayden Daniels won last year’s Heisman, and Saturday marked only the fourth time this century that a quarterback didn’t win the award.

In an ESPN SportsCenter appearance Saturday morning, Ward was asked to name his Heisman moments. He reeled off several.

“I got a lot,” he said. “All you got to do is watch that tape. It starts with Florida. Spin out of a sack, cross body [throw]; nobody is doing that like I am. I did that [again] against Louisville; nobody thought I could do that twice. I’ve been doing that since [playing at Washington State].

“Those plays are second nature to me. All the plays vs Virginia Tech, where I got out of a sack and Riley Williams made a play for me. The Duke game. The tape says it all. Even when we played Syracuse, we didn’t win the game but you’ve got to see the plays we are making on offense, the throws I am making personally. Nobody is precise like we are on offense.”

Ward, before the ceremony, reflected on his journey from a no-star recruit to Heisman finalist.

“You’ve got to have elite confidence in yourself, teammates and faith in God [to achieve this],” he said. “My family put me in position to play football throughout high school, sending me to camps all across the country. I remember my dad would email D-2, D-3 coaches and none of them would respond to him.”

He said he flourished at Miami because “I got a great group of teammates behind me. My receiver core is elite. My o-line is elite. We had a connection on the field, outside the locker room. Everything led to us being a prolific offense, from coach [Shannon] Dawson, his schemes. [Offensive line coach Alex] Mirabal, having the run game right in the trenches. I’m excited we could solidify one of the best offenses ever.”

Ward is widely projected to be a high pick in next year’s NFL Draft.

His skills “translate just fine” to the NFL, he said Saturday. “The biggest thing I continued to get better at was from the pocket. I showed that throughout college. You look at players who can make off-platform plays, like Caleb Williams.... Jayden Daniels, Drake May. A lot of quarterbacks nowadays will have easy transitions to the NFL...

“It’s a blessing to be in this position. The journey I had to solidify myself as one of the best quarterbacks in college to potentially get to the NFL. Me projected to go that high is something I don’t take lightly. I have a chip on my shoulder that never leaves.”

As for the other Heisman finalists...

▪ Hunter, who won the award, played wide receiver and cornerback for Colorado and finished second nationally with 14 receiving touchdowns and sixth with 1,152 receiving yards while also producing four interceptions and 11 pass breakups on defense. He played most of Colorado’s snaps on offense and defense.

▪ Jeanty leads the nation with 2,497 rushing yards and is tied for the FBS lead with 29 rushing touchdowns. He is averaging 7.3 yards per carry and is a major reason why Boise State went 12-1, won the Mountain West and received a first-round bye in the 12-team College Football Playoff.

▪ Gabriel has completed 73.2 percent of his passes for 3,558 yards and 28 touchdowns compared with six interceptions, while leading Oregon to a 13-0 record heading into the College Football Playoff.

MORE PORTAL VISITS

Oklahoma State’s De’Zhaun Stribling, one of several Hurricanes wide receiver targets in the transfer portal, and Nebraska linebacker Makai Gbayor are the latest veteran “free agents” to schedule visits with UM.

Gbayor, who played the past two seasons for the Cornhuskers, will visit Miami’s campus on Sunday. An option to replace the departing Francisco Mauigoa at middle linebacker, Gbayor had 49 tackles, including six for loss, and two fumble recoveries this season.

Stribling, 6-2, played two seasons at Washington State before transferring before the 2023 season to Oklahoma State, where he had 52 receptions for 882 yards (17.0 per catch) and six touchdowns this season. He will visit Miami next week.

Portal players visiting UM this weekend reportedly include FIU receiver Eric Rivers, Georgia Tech wide receiver Eric Singleton, LSU receiver JT Daniels, Washington State cornerback Ethan O’Connor and Arizona State cornerback Emmanuel Karley. Rivers and O’Connor visited on Saturday. Besides Stribling, several others will visit next week.

▪ Asked by ESPN about UM missing out on the College Football Playoffs, Ward said: “I’m over it at this point, can’t go back in the past. At the end of the day, they left out the best quarterback in the country. They left out the best offense in the country. They’ve got to do what they’ve got to do.”